


Departure

by Eremiss



Series: Guinevere Ashe [7]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Found Family, Goodbyes, and I'm anxious about what comes next, and you're worried, pre-5.3, pre-patch, soft, when the boo is going on a dangerous mission, while the game is down
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:00:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25833154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eremiss/pseuds/Eremiss
Summary: Thancred is setting out to follow Elidibus.set post 5.2/pre 5.3
Relationships: Ryne | Minfilia & Thancred Waters, Ryne | Minfilia & Warrior of Light, Thancred Waters/Original Female Character(s), Warrior of Light/Thancred Waters
Series: Guinevere Ashe [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1632004
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Departure

The sky is just barely tinged with the first hints of dawn when Thancred slips out of bed. He always preferred to set out on an assignment in the wee hours of the morning when he could, and it seemed five years hadn’t changed that. What had changed, though, was that he’d taken the time to properly bid farewell and trade reassuring quips and jokes with the other Scions the previous evening, rather than suddenly vanishing without a word.

Gwen is awake, too; her repose so restless and light that the slight shift of the bed and the absence of his presence beside her is enough to wake her. She remains motionless and feigns sleep, giving herself the chance to calm the anxious twisting in her thoughts while granting Thancred a bit of time to himself. 

She can’t hear him padding around the room and gathering his gear despite the silence. The evidence that his skills with stealth hadn’t suffered despite his change of weapon and tactics is more reassuring than she expected, yet it feels like only a few drops compared to the well of apprehension in her chest. 

She has always found it strange to have perfect confidence and faith in someone, yet still worry. Shouldn’t that not be how it worked? She didn’t doubt Thancred in the slightest. He’s skilled, strong, cunning and resourceful. He can take care of himself. 

But it was an _Ascian_ he was dealing with. An Ascian tethered to a hume body, maybe, but an Ascian all the same. All of them are uncomfortably aware that there is far more to Elidibus and his schemes than whatever they know–or _think_ they know. 

After what Gwen judges to be a handful of minutes she finally shifts around and pushes herself upright

Thancred is carefully inspecting each piece of his gear as he buckles on his armor, checking straps and looking for signs of weakness and damage. There are none to be found, thanks to Axel and the other menders. He turns towards her and pulls on his coat, giving her a wry smile, “Did you even sleep, dove?”

“A bit,” she says, climbing out of bed. She didn’t sleep _well_ , but she did _sleep_.

He checks the buckles and straps of his weapon belt while she locates and tugs on the sleep shirt he’d so enthusiastically divested her of the previous evening. Once his belt is fastened into place he turns to his small collection of knives, six short, sharp blades, inspecting each and then tucking them away in his belt, his boots and somewhere in his gauntlets.

Next is his gunblade. He starts at the handle and moves up, checking the trigger, the hammer, the cylinder, the barrel, and then finally the blade itself. The keen edge is the only thing on the blade that hadn’t been purposefully dulled with special paints and oils that would keep the metal from glinting or reflecting in the light. 

Finding it satisfactory, he reaches for the cartridges Ryne had charged the previous evening. His hand meets Gwen’s in a gentle collision instead. 

“I suppose it would be a bit ridiculous of me to ask if you’re really sure this is a good idea,” she mumbles, drawing his hand up to her face. 

“It’s a bit late to change my mind, seeing how I made such a show of my farewells,” he says, cupping her cheek. “I’m afraid my hands are tied.”

Gwen breathes the scent of leather and gunpowder on his glove as he draws her in, trying to hang on to the details. She wraps her arms around him and finds she’s not sure if she would rather have hugged him with or without his armor. Without, she would have felt the warmth of his skin and heard his heartbeat; with, she leeches reassurance in the hard, unyielding shell that has protected him from the worst Norvrandt has to offer.

Well… _Most_ of the worst. 

He leans his head against hers and squeezes, firm but not too tight so the buckles and edges of his armor don’t dig at her. She takes slow, measured breaths, breathing sandalwood soap, oiled metal and the faint scent of smoke that no amount of washing has ever managed to purge from his coat. 

Gwen breathes a deep sigh, memorizing every little detail, and squeezes him back. 

“Don’t have too much fun while I’m gone,” Thancred says softly.

She buries her smile against his neck, taking another slow breath, “I’ll do my best.”

When they eventually draw apart it somehow feels like their embrace lasted bells and seconds. Thancred resumes his task of readying to leave and Gwen hovers nearby, stealing more seconds of contact with a hand at the small of his back, reluctant to part but not wanting to get in the way. 

He checks over his cartridges then loads six into his gunblade, depositing another ten in his cartridge belt. He moves his hands a few different ways, letting them brush or hover over a few places on his coat, pants and belt to reaffirm everything is in the right place.

Then he takes a long steadying breath, “Alright. I’d best get going.”

Gwen pulls him into another embrace before he can take so much as a step, and he almost seems to deflate a little as he winds his arms around her. She whispers against his lips, “Be safe.”

“As safe as I can be, dove,” Thancred murmurs between slow, lingering kisses. “You have my word.”

There’s a knock. Tiny, polite and hesitant. They draw apart, more slowly and reluctantly than before, and Thancred tugs the door open.

Ryne stands on the other side, bleary-eyed and drooping with tiredness. Her face suddenly goes as red as her hair and she covers her eyes, recoiling, “Sorry! Sorry!”

Sorry…? _Oh_.

Gwen dashes to the closet for pants and Thancred poorly covers a chuckle with a long-suffering sigh.

Out in the living room Ryne is toeing the carpet abashedly, “Sorry. I was worried I might’ve missed you.”

Thancred looks like he might melt for a moment, then pulls himself back together. He sighs again, looking from Ryne to Gwen. “Did _either_ of you sleep?”

“I slept a little bit,” Ryne says. 

He shakes his head, putting his hands on his hips. “What am I going to do with you two?”

Gwen smiles warmly at each of them, her nervousness muted for a moment by a rush of affection. “Whatever it is, it’ll have to wait until you get back. You have plenty of time to figure it out.”

Thancred opens his mouth to retort, then Ryne throws her arms around his middle and hugs him tight. He sighs, smiling the soft, fond smile he only ever has when it’s just the three of them, and hugs her back.

When he eventually straightens up, Ryne doesn’t let go. He hesitates, struggling with how to best extricate himself, and glances at Gwen for help.

She leans up to kiss the corner of his mouth, “Come back soon, darling.” 

When she leans away Thancred looks both relieved and a bit dazed. “As soon as I can,” the barest hesitation while he meets her gaze, “love.”

Her heart pounds against her ribs, skin tingling and thoughts stalling for a moment. _Love_. He’s never…

Ryne adds, firmly as if she’s scolding him, “In one piece,” and finally releases him.

“Make my job harder, why don’t you,” Thancred grouses with a smile, running his hands over his face. He shakes his head, mumbling something to himself, and when he drops his hands his expression is composed and collected again. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

It feels so strange to watch him step out of the front door without them. He turns to wag his finger at them, a fond smile ruining his attempt at a stern expression, “Back to bed. Both of you.”

Then he vanishes down the stairs.

**Author's Note:**

> :D :D :D
> 
> I realized I never wrote a pre-5.3 thing and really wanted to, so I did lol
> 
> HE SAID THE L WORD OMG  
>  _time for Gwen to start overthinking again_


End file.
